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Overview

This versatile enclosure offers a simple solution for re-purposing 2.5in HDDs and SSDs that are no longer in use into convenient external storage. Since the enclosure supports either legacy IDE or SATA drives, you can rest assured that you’ll have the correct option on-hand when it’s time to swap another drive in, without having to worry about compatibility.

To get the most from your SATA III drives and ensure maximum performance and speed, the UNI251BMU33 is enhanced with UASP support. When paired with a UASP-enabled host controller, the enclosure delivers transfer speeds up to 70% faster than conventional USB 3.0. See our UASP testing results below for further details.

Perfect for carrying your external drive along with your laptop, the UNI251BMU33 is USB-powered, so you won’t need to carry around an external power adapter. Plus, the enclosure features a small-footprint design, making it a great solution for on-the-go laptop and desktop users who want to add storage to their computer without taking up much space.

The UNI251BMU33 is backed by a StarTech.com 2-year warranty, and free lifetime technical support.

Product Support

Manuals

Data Sheets

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Buy

Hard drive enclosures require power from your system's USB port. Although you can plug in any standard SATA drive, USB ports only supply a limited amount of power and are not able to power all of the hard drives plugged into the system.

The power capabilities of the USB port combined with the power requirements of the attached hard drive will determine if the hard drive enclosure will work in your setup. The power (in mA) supplied by the USB port must be greater than the requirements of the hard drive.

A USB 2.0 port can supply a maximum of 500 mA (0.5 A), and a USB 3.0 port can supply a maximum of 900 mA (0.9 A).

You can usually find the power requirements of your hard drive in the technical specifications on the label of the hard drive or on the manufacturer's website.

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To determine if your hard drive will work in this enclosure, on the product page, click the Technical Specifications tab, and do the following:

Make sure that the enclosure supports the storage size of your hard drive. If the storage size of your hard drive is larger than what the enclosure was tested with, the hard drive will likely still work with the enclosure.

Confirm that your hard drive uses the same interface type as the enclosure. For example, IDE, SATA, or M.2.

Make sure that the enclosure supports the physical size of your hard drive, such as 2.5 inches or 3.5 inches.

Make sure that the enclosure supports the height of your hard drive. For example, 9 mm or 15 mm.

Verify that the power consumption of your hard drive doesn’t exceed the power output of the enclosure. If you’re using multiple hard drives, make sure that the combined power consumption of all of the hard drives doesn’t exceed the power output of the enclosure.

If you are unable to detect your IDE (PATA) drive using a StarTech.com product, you may need to change the jumper settings on your drive. The jumpers switch the drive between Master,Slave, and Cable Select for most drives. A jumper is a small plastic piece that slides on top of two pins to electrically short them together.

When it does not mention what IDE drive configuration is required or if there is only one drive in the setup, the drive should be configured as Master. If Master is not working, try using the drive in Cable Select.

There is no standard position for the jumpers on IDE drives. On some drives, the jumper diagram is on the label that is on the top of the drive. On other drives, there are markings on the circuit board for CS, MA, and SL, which means a jumper shorts the pins vertically in that position. For more information, refer to the documentation provided by the manufacturer.

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When you troubleshoot issues with a hard drive enclosure, there are some quick tests that you can complete to rule out potential problems. You can test to make sure that the following components are working correctly and are not the source of the issue:

Cables

Hard drives

Hard drive enclosure

To test your setup components, try the following:

Use the cables, hard drives, and hard drive enclosure in another setup to see if the problem is with the components or the setup.

Use a different cable, hard drive, and hard drive enclosure in your setup to see if the problem persists. Ideally, you should test a component that you know works in another setup.

When you test the hard drive and hard drive enclosure, it is recommended that you do the following:

If the hard drive is listed with unallocated space, the hard drive needs to be reformatted. Right-click unallocated and click New Simple Volume. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the reformatting.​

Note: Formatting a hard drive erases all of the data on it. Make sure that you back up all of your data before you reformat the hard drive.​

If the hard drive is listed as healthy but does not have a drive letter, for example, C:, right-click healthy and click Change Drive Letter and Paths. Click Add, assign a drive letter, and click OK.

Note: A formatted hard drive will not show up in Computer or My Computer until it has a drive letter assigned to it.